NASS - No Armor Skill Swap
Well, this strategy works only in Two vs. Two battles, and of course requires the namesake Machamp and Skill Swapper to work. I first thought of this scenario back in an old discussion topic, which I believe was a Machamp one.Why is it that No Armor should be Skill Swapped? For one reason only. OHKO attacks such as Fissure, Horn Drill, and Sheer Cold will NOT miss. Obviously, Sheer Cold is the best option, since Fissure does not affect Flyers, and Horn Drill does not affect Ghosts. Sheer Cold cannot be walled without the Sturdy ability.
On a 6 Pokemon team, 3 spots are obviously taken to: Machamp, a Skill Swap user, and a Sheer Cold user. Let's cover these, shall we?
Machamp will only be in play for 1 turn, which is the turn where he will be skill swapped, so you can just use a standard Machamp Set, but keep in mind you can't use the standard GutsChamp or No Armor Champ because it won't have either ability after the Skill Swap. It's also not even worth putting DynamicPunch in the moveset for the one turn he is out, because the Skill Swapper will Skill Swap before he can use the DynamicPunch. I do however suggest using a Light Screen for the 1 turn Machamp is in. It's at least some support that the team may be able to make use of.
As for the Skill Swapper, there are tons of choices, but the key is in finding a decently speedy Skill Swapper that can survive for a couple turns of beating. Gengar, Starmie, Espeon, Blissey, Claydol, Cresselia, and Bronzong appeal to me.
I personally like Starmie, Claydol, and Cresselia as they're both useful besides just being a Skill Swapper. Claydol and Starmie can dual as Rapid Spinners to get rid of Stealth Rocks and Cresselia is known as the Great Wall of Japan. Gengar, although fast, is much better used as a Explosion blocker and statuser. If you don't mind using him despite the one of his attack choices already being taken, go right ahead, because he's still good. Keep in mind that using a Choice Scarf on the slower, beefier Skill Swappers is a great idea, because they'll only be using one attack at a time. If you're using this in Uber play, I'd suggest Lugia, he has fantastic defenses to take a few hits. Obviously, choose the Skill Swapper that appeases to the tier of play you'll be battling in.
Obviously, after getting No Armor on your Sheer Cold user, they'll be OHKOing just about any Pokemon that switches in. Choice Scarf is almost mandatory on your Sheer Cold user, as they'll only be using Sheer Cold during their time in battle, and they cannot benefit damage-wise from Choice Band or Choice Specs. Leftovers is the only other viable option, but striking first with Sheer Cold is of utmost importance. Especially with the immensely fast Electrode at 140 Speed who can stop your reign of terror before it even begins by just Kamikazeing. As for EV training, they will NOT need any Attack or Sp. Attack EVs. 252 Speed EVs are recommended to strike first against ANY opponent. The other I'd recommend be placed in defenses to help survivability. Keep in mind that you should always attack Pokemon who can Explode first. There'll be a problem if however your opponent switches in two Exploders with the slowest holding Focus Strip to be able to force in two Explosions.
The choice in Sheer Cold users is severely limited. Dewgong, Lapras, Articuno, Glalie, Walrein, Kyogre, and Abomasnow are your ONLY options for Sheer Cold. Kyogre will be your best choice, and he is very good. He's stocky in his defenses and has decent speed at 100 Base Speed which is unfortunately the fastest Sheer Cold user in the game. This is why I said it was almost mandatory for your Sheer Cold user to wear a Choice Scarf.
Support Options
Examples used:
Smeargle - http://serebii.net/pokedex-dp/235.shtml
Infernape - http://serebii.net/pokedex-dp/392.shtml
Togekiss - http://serebii.net/pokedex-dp/468.shtml
Infernape - http://serebii.net/pokedex-dp/392.shtml
Togekiss - http://serebii.net/pokedex-dp/468.shtml
Smeargle will be a priority supporter in this tactic. He provides MUCH needed Imprison support. If you're using Abomasnow, you'll want to imprison Flare Drive and Flamethrower. (You'll still be susceptible to Fire Blast CSMences though.) If you're using Articuno, you'll want to imprison Stone Edge and Rock Slide. If you're using Kyogre, you'll want to imprison TBolt/Thunder and Energy Ball/Grass Knot. One thing you must ALWAYS keep in mind is Me First. Me First attacks the opponent with the same attack they're using. No Armor makes all hits made and received by your Sheer Cold user have perfect accuracy. If your opponent uses Me First on your Sheer Cold user, then you're dead unless you have Follow Me support going on when your opponent uses Me First. Imprisoning Me First is vital if your enemy knows your strategy and knows how to counter it. If your usual opponents don't use Me First, then stick in Explosion instead. Imprisoning Explosion is always a good thing for you on 2 on 2 battles.
You'll also need a Sturdy Pokemon killer. Sturdy users are totally immune to your Sheer Cold, and if you're using Articuno, a sheer 90% of Pokemon who have the Sturdy ability have STAB on Stone Edge and Rock Slide. This is the reason why you need Imprison support as stated above. You'll need a Grass Type move and Fighting or Ground type attack to deal with Sturdy Pokemon. Grass attacks murder the Rock and Ground Sturdy Pokemon. Fighting and Ground attacks murder the Rock/Steel Sturdy Pokemon (Aggron + Bastiodon, etc.) On a general note, most Sturdy Pokemon tend to be heavy and have high Defense, but low Sp. Defense. For this reason, I suggest a Mixed Infernape with Grass Knot, Stone Edge, and Close Combat. You could also use a Sceptile with Energy Ball/Grass Knot and Focus Blast too if you feel that having 2 Fighting Types on your team means you have too much of a Psychic weakness. However, Sceptile and Infernape are both weak to Flying types, so for this reason Infernape is prefferable over Sceptile because it can use Stone Edge much better.
For your last support option, I STRONGLY suggest Togekiss. Togekiss can use both Follow Me support and can Baton Pass Wish for support. This is vital, because Togekiss will get a massive beating using Follow me without using Wish the prior turn, and so will your Sheer Cold user on a regular basis. Also, I'm not sure of this, and I'd like a confirmation: If Softboiled can be used on your partner, that would be a HUGE plus on using Togekiss. Air Slash on Serene Grace Togekiss can be used in place of Follow Me, if you prefer. 60% Flinch has a good chance of basically negating the enemy's other Pokemon's attack. Your Sheer Cold user will kill 1 Pokemon a turn, and if you can Flinch the other, you received no damage that turn. Nothing much else to say here, but Softboiled + Wish + Follow Me/Air Slash + Baton Pass is a good support for your Sheer Cold user.
Strategy Problems
After the opponent realizes your use of Sheer Cold, your Sheer Cold user will be the target of almost every attack. Togekiss can't support Kyogre forever, so unless the battle doesn't end quickly, you're in a heap of trouble. The set up time requires BOTH of your Pokemon to set up for 3 turns to actually get started. It is utterly important that if your opponent attempts to start DDing or SDing during your set up time that you MUST kill them. After one DD, your Sheer Cold user will be outspeeded in most cases. If any of your set up Pokemon die right off the bat, then this strategy is screwed as well. The team needs PERFECT synchronization and almost sheerly perfect prediction skills to effectively operate.
If you have any suggestions, corrections, inconsistencies, complaints, etc then tell me so I can update this post. Thanks for reading my first strategy posting!
